Unmasked
by Oldest Soul
Summary: For the entirety of Kakashi's short life, Death has followed in his wake. Anbu-Kakashi
1. Prologue

**A/N: this will be a coverage of the drastic stages in Kakashi's personality over the course of his Anbu career. Will not concur with the events from the anime arc during this time. enjoy. review. thank you.**

* * *

Prologue

There is blood. Too much blood.

Never in my short life have I seen such décor. It garnishes the wall behind him. It is the finish on the hardwood floor. It is an apron of scarlet.

It smells of iron. A stench that fills my nostrils and sends me reeling. I try to step back, try to run – anything. I am frozen in place, my feet bound by the congealing stain under my shoes.

His back is to me. White hair, long and spiky as always. Like a bolt of lightning, he always said, our hair.

I can do nothing but tremble. I feel my mouth unhinged in a silent scream, I hear the high-pitched shrillness in my mind, yet no sound is emitted.

I could call him if I wanted.

No, I cannot. Fear silences me; that should I ask him, he would remain where he is – too quiet, too still.

"Dad?" I would say. My voice would squeak, quiver like a kitten confronted by a ninken.

And I would imagine that he'd stand up, get on his feet and laugh like nothing had happened. And we'd go for ramen and he'd hand me the bill and I'd hand it back to him, laughing.

And in my heart of hearts, I know that it would not be.

…..

I am a jonin – old enough to learn my father's wrongs, and to hate him for them. He died most cowardly, I tell myself, and I will not go the same way. He broke the shinobi code, I tell myself, and he suffered for it. I will not do the same.

"Hatake Sakumo was a hero." Obito has told me.

I want to believe him. So badly, I want to. But how can I, when Hatake Sakumo's 'heroic' actions earned him a disgraced name and a permanent stain on my floor?

For once, I've chosen to believe, to go on feeling rather than logic. And look what it got me.

The same Obito lays now on cold stone, only his left half visible – no, not even that much.

He's dying with a smile on his lips as his face follows Rin's footsteps. He cannot see her, for I have taken his sight. I will show you the world now, Obito. May you live on through my body, in my eyes.

Uchiha Obito too, is a hero. Shinobi law will turn against him, but humanity will know him as a hero.

Like my father, Obito will die knowing that it was a choice he made.

I want to brand him a coward for dying intentionally. I want to ask him if he doesn't know he's burdened me with survivor's guilt for the rest of my life.

And in my heart of hearts, I know he's braver than I am.

…..

I am thirteen years old. Lightning crackles up my arm, tingles in my fingertips.

Sakumo always told me I was in too much of a hurry. I'm going too fast now – moving so quickly I barely know what I'm hitting.

 _Cut, slash, punch, kick_.

 _Stab_.

This one is too light, I know immediately. None of the Kiri anbu should be this small. And . . . none of them wear red stockings. I swallow and look up.

Her blood mingles with my chakra and Lightning Cutter turns an eerie shade of pink. Her face is almost surprised, eyes wide, mouth half open. Like she didn't expect this. Like she didn't purposefully just step in front of me.

In a half-second the anbu will be upon me. And in that half-second her eyes meet mine, she's crying. Rin didn't want to die.

And she alone is the kindest person I know; she values human life above all else. Yet it is she who dies in the true way of the shinobi. Not by her own hand, and not having abandoned he mission to save a friend, but for the sake of the village.

My eyes well up. I don't remember the last time I cried. The tears from my right eye are mine.

And in my heart of hearts, I know that those from the Sharingan are his.


	2. Recruited

Chapter 1: New Recruit

Kakashi could hear someone behind him – Minato-sensei based on the footfalls and the breathing pattern. He chose to remain motionless where he was, perched on a post of the white picket fence with a light breeze shifting his hair.

"We're watching the sunset." He explained without prompting as Minato sat beside him. The Hokage nodded once and together they sat in silence as bright colors filled the sky.

Kakashi's visible eye wandered over the rows and rows of granite markers, coming to rest on the two closest to him, side by side. One read _Uchiha Obito_ and the other _Nohara Rin_. There were no further inscriptions, only the two names. The names alone were enough.

"Been on any interesting missions lately?" Minato finally asked with a sidelong glance at the young shinobi. Kakashi shook his head.

"Been on _any_ missions lately?"

He shook his head again. Minato sighed and crossed his arms. Kakashi, recognizing the signs, braced himself for the impending lecture. "Kakashi, you can't go on like this. You've got to get money somehow – look, I've already paid your rent for you two months in a row. I'm not prepared to do so again. You can't neglect your duties as a shinobi to pine over those lost."

"So I should just forget about them then?" Kakashi shot back, "Forget Chidori and then take out my left eye and toss it in the river, is that it?"

"No, of course not." Minato replied sternly, "You must never forget them, Kakashi, but you must live on in their names. Because whether you like it or not, life goes on after people die."

"But they were my only friends."

"You think you're the only one who's lost friends?" Minato asked in an uncharacteristically harsh voice, "It's not _your_ bad luck – it happens to _every_ shinobi. Why do you think we teach you not to show feeling? Why do you think we tell you to put your mission above your comrades? Why do you think we warn you that forty percent of shinobi die prematurely? So that when it happens, you can get past the grief and continue your service to the village, that's why."

Kakashi clenched his jaw as he crouched on the fencepost and stared down at the kanji that was _Uchiha_.

"It's something that we all must learn the hard way." Minato said in a gentler voice, "But you've had more time than most. You need something to keep your mind busy alright?"

"Fine." The boy snarled, "I'll get a mission in the morning." It was an obvious dismissal, but his sensei didn't seem to get the hint because he stayed firmly on his section of the fence, fixing his collar.

"You know what I think would be good for you?"

Frankly, Kakashi was tired of hearing what Minato thought was good for him, but he held his tongue. This was, after all, the Hokage he was speaking to.

"I think you should enlist in Anbu." Minato suggested.

Despite his best interests to seem indifferent and aloof, this pricked Kakashi's interest. "Do they even take people my age?" he wondered. Like most people, he knew very little about the organization. Only that they were an unordinary group of nin that carried out unordinary types of missions.

"The general consensus among the Anbu is that age, gender, and previous rank make no difference. Currently, I believe the youngest member is ten years old and the oldest is over sixty." Minato answered. "Besides, you _do_ realize that I choose the Anbu members. They have to be approved by a committee of course, but you'd get in no problem."

The sun had dipped below the horizon and dusk was settling over the cemetery as Kakashi chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Anbu might not be so bad – at least he'd be working with people who were on his own level. And he had been itching for a mission, no matter the face he put forth to Minato-sensei.

Minato saw that he'd won before Kakashi could even open his mouth to speak.

"Wonderful!" The Hokage exclaimed brightly, "And do come by for dinner tonight – Kushina's missed your company." With this, he raised his hand in the seal for his Flying Thunder God Jutsu and was gone with a bang.

…

Kakashi glanced over the many Anbu masks before him – he didn't really fancy any of them.

"Do I have to wear one?" he asked Nok - the Anbu who had been tasked with registering him. "I mean, you can barely see any of my face anyway." He gestured to his mask.

"Yes." Nok sighed in exasperation, "You _have_ to wear one."

"Why?"

"Because it's the rule."

Grumbling, Kakashi swiped up the nearest mask – a catlike face with red markings on the sides. He strapped it onto his head and found to his surprise that it didn't inhibit his peripheral vision at all like he'd expected from the shape of the eye holes. It did smell like porcelain though.

"Great," Nok pronounced with an air of sarcasm, "Now, right or left?"

"What?"

"Your sword arm. Right. Or left?"

"Right." Kakashi supplied, not really sure why it mattered. Nok's only reply was to reach out to seize Kakashi's right arm. He leapt away reflexively, immediately on his guard.

"Skittish one, huh?" Nok chuckled, "I'm not trying to maim you or anything so relax. It's just that you've got to have the Anbu seal on you."

Kakashi hesitated, then bared his arm reluctantly. Nok made several hand seals that Kakashi recognized as fuinjutsu signs, then pressed his palm against Kakashi's shoulder. There was a sharp burning sensation but he resisted the urge to yelp and jerk his arm away, though the muscles in his arm twitched. In a few seconds it was over and Nok removed his hand to reveal a mark in the shape of the Anbu now adorning Kakashi's right shoulder.

"Uniform, check. Mask check. Tanto, check. Seal, check. There's one more thing . . ." Nok muttered to himself, ". . . oh! Right. The name."

"My name is –" Kakashi began, only to be shushed by the older Anbu.

"Shh – don't say it. As long as you're in this organization, it's not your name. It is the name of a Konoha shinobi, but not of an Anbu." Nok picked up a clipboard from the desk that paperwork was kept on. He read over it quickly. "Ro." Nok announced, "That's your new name."

"Ro?" Kakashi repeated, thinking that it sounded rather . . . short and insignificant. "Why Ro?"

"Because it's the next one on the list." Nok said matter-of-factly, crossing out something on the clipboard with a pencil. He tapped on his mask with the end of the pencil as he looked over Kakashi, now a fully outfitted Anbu.

"You do realize," Nok ventured carefully after a moment, "That we in the Anbu strive to remove any personally identifying marks whatsoever."

"Yes." Kakashi replied in a clipped voice.

"Well . . . the hair is . . . _very_ unique. I'm afraid you're going to have to cut it."

Kakashi put a protective hand on his hair as he took a step back. "I won't." Besides the Sharingan, his hair was Kakashi's most valued physical trait and he was immensely proud of it.

"Everyone will know who you are in an instant. It stands out too much." Nok crossed his arms like a stubborn parent. Kakashi crossed his arms like a stubborn child.

"Plenty of people have silver hair." Kakashi replied indignantly.

Nok gestured to Kakashi's head. "But yours sticks up at an angle. Have you ever seen anyone else with hair like that? Don't be a little brat alright; cut it down to a more modest length."

"Touch it and I'll hurt you." Kakashi promised, watching the other nin carefully for signs of attack.

There was a brief starting contest in which Kakashi emerged victorious and Nok sighed in defeat. "Fine. If you want to have an enemy ninja show up asking for the Anbu with the upwards silver hair that's your business. But at least take off the hitai-ate so it won't stick up _as_ much."

Deciding that it wasn't worth his while to argue, Kakashi removed his hitai-ate, though it really didn't lessen the effect of his wild hair all that much.

"Right," Nok continued, "I'm assigning you to the First Squad under captain Ichi."

"Ichi?" Kakashi asked, "Like the number?"

"Yeah. Most Anbu members belong to one of three squads. The captains of each squad are Ichi, Ni, and San, otherwise known as the Josan – the Elite Three. They are the best of the best; _nobody_ can defeat them. Except the Hokage maybe." Nok explained, pride coloring his voice.

"I would not be so quick to put a name on perfection." A new voice entered the scene. Nok didn't turn around, seemingly unsurprised but Kakashi could see a middle-aged man with several deep scars entering the room with the aid of a cane. "We wouldn't want to . . . jinx anything . . . would we?"

The man caught sight of Kakashi for the first time, and he smiled in a way that was more leering than genuine. "Oh, is this the newest recruit?"

Kakashi chose to say nothing but only stand as the man inspected him from head to foot.

"Sakumo's boy, eh?" the leer stretched again, "I could tell by the hair. Looks like you've turned into a . . . promising young man." The way he said it made it sound like an insult, which really got under Kakashi's skin. Still he remained silent.

"Is there a _reason_ you came, Danzo, or did you only want to provoke the kid?" Nok asked, his voice rather colder than it had been.

"I'd hardly call it provoking, Nok. I prefer the term 'testing.' But I digress. The Hokage has called a meeting in one hour and as the person in charge of Anbu records, you're to be there. There are going to be some . . . changes in the program.


	3. Roommates

**enjoy. review. thank you.**

Chapter Two: Roommates

"As a member of the First Squadron, you'll sleep and store your things here."

Care of Kakashi had been transferred to Kawe, a fellow member of the First Squadron, after Nok had left for the Hokage's meeting. Kawe gestured now to the room before him. It was, in simplest terms, a dorm room. There were six beds, four of which had various things strewn about them and were obviously inhabited, while two were neatly made and appeared not to have been touched. Another Anbu member was in one corner reading. He looked up and nodded in greeting as the two entered.

"Take your pick." Kawe held out a hand to the two available beds. Kakashi tossed his belongings down on the one nearest the door.

"Right. Let me introduce you to the crew." Kawe pointed to the other nin in the room. "This is Ashi, he spends most of his time reading schmaltzy romance novels and pays very little attention to anything else."

"Not true." Ashi looked up from his book once more, revealing a rather large and hooked nose. "I've already noticed that you're wearing Saki's shoes."

"Mine were eaten by that damn dog." Kawe replied sadly, "Besides, he won't notice."

"He'll notice." Ashi said with certainty, then turned to Kakashi. "Welcome to the fort, kid. This is where us poor people who can't afford to rent our own places live. What's your name?"

"Ro." Kakashi answered, catching himself before he said 'Kakashi.'

"No, I mean your real name. You're Hatake's kid, right? Kakashi, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Ashi!" Kawe hissed, "You know we're not supposed to talk about _real names_. What if Captain Ichi's bugged the room?"

"You're such a worrywart, Nabaru." Ashi waved his hand dismissively, "There's no reason to bug the room."

Kawe paled, "Don't use that name!"

"Nabaru, Nabaru, Nabaru!" Ashi sang.

Before Kawe could retaliate, the door burst open dramatically.

"We're back!" there entered two more shinobi into the room. The first was short and had a small goatee on his chin, and the second was bespectacled and fair-haired. The short one caught sight of Kakashi first.

"Ooh, who's the new kid?"

"He's rather young, isn't he?" the second asked. His voice was quiet as he looked over Kakashi with an air of solemnity.

"I'm fourteen." Kakashi answered a bit defensively, "Fifteen next month."

"Yeah Saki, you were only twelve when you joined, remember." Ashi pointed out. "Took you long enough to get your growth spurt though. You were shorter than Tatsu for at least five years." He pointed to the short Anbu.

Saki did not reply, having noticed a more pressing matter.

"Kawe."

"Yes?"

"Why are you wearing my shoes?"

Kawe looked down at his footwear, seeming to notice them for the first time. "Oh, are these yours? I'm sorry I must not have realized when I put them on this morning."

"You've probably gotten them all dirty!" Saki fretted, "Give them to me – I'll have to clean them now. Good grief, Kawe, what kind of mud did you walk through today?!"

"You know, Saki." Tatsu rolled his eyes, "Most of us just walk on the ground like normal people instead of going through the treetops everywhere."

"Bark is much more forgiving than the ground when it comes to keeping one's shoes clean." Saki explained as Kawe returned his shoes.

Kawe glared. "I can't _wait_ until Chi gets back."

"Chi?" Kakashi asked, partly because he wanted to know who Chi was, and partly to remind the others that he was still there.

"She sleeps _there_." Ashi pointed to the bed across from his, which was separated from Kakashi's by the empty bed.

The only word to describe Chi's living space was _orderly_. The bed was neatly made and there were few trinkets, only a small framed portrait of a smiling man on the windowsill.

"She's the only one who can keep these three in line." Kawe gestured to the men before him, "And right now she's on a mission in the Wave Country. Hopefully she'll be back soon."

"The longer she stays away the better." Ashi countered, reburying his overly large nose into his book again.

…..

"Ow!" Kakashi exclaimed, shaking the pain out of his shoulder as he leaped backwards. In the midst of a taijutsu sparring session, he'd taken a hit to the left bicep from Tatsu, his opponent.

Although Tatsu was short, squat, and not at all speedy by a ninja's standards, he was incredibly strong and quite versatile, never following a predictable pattern of attack. Already Kakashi had received several bruises that were ripening to a disconcerting purplish color. He'd also successfully hindered Tatsu to a degree, but had quickly realized that an Anbu opponent was much more challenging than a regular shinobi. But that was to be expected, he supposed, as he advanced once more.

After an exchange of blows and some fancy maneuvering on Kakashi's part as he avoided a strike to his knees, Tatsu was able to grab hold of Kakashi by the hair with a single hand. Quicker than greased lightning, Kakashi grabbed Tatsu's wrist in an iron hold as he pried the other nin's fingers away.

"Don't touch the hair, thanks."

The action resumed once more, Tatsu attacking with incredible strength and Kakashi countering with the speed and flexibility of a feline.

"You know," He heard Saki's voice talking to Kawe and Ashi quietly, "He's really quite good. It's amazing how he can move with such dexterity considering he's only using one eye."

Kakashi had been forced to keep his Sharingan covered while sparring on the grounds of it being unfair if he were allowed to copy every move of his opponent. Something he figured was fair, and besides it presented more of a challenge anyway.

"Well, you don't get into Anbu at that age for nothing." Kawe answered, crossing is arms. Suddenly, all four older ninja stiffened, and Tatsu was just barely able to stop Kakashi's foot connecting with his face.

"What's the matter?" Kakashi wondered aloud, the spar cut short by his roommate's unexpected reactions.

It was Arashi who answered in a hushed voice. "It's _her_!"


	4. Flashback

Chapter Three: Flashback

"Who's her?" Kakashi asked upon hearing Ashi's tone. This abominable violation of grammatical ethics caused Saki to recover first.

"Who is _she._ " he corrected in his soft voice, "And to answer your question, it would appear that the last of our roommates has returned."

"Chi?"

Saki nodded solemnly.

Seeming to remember that four days ago he had been wishing for the roommate in question to come back, Kawe brought himself to his senses.

Kakashi could feel another chakra presence now approaching from the direction of the Team Ichi compound and getting closer by the second.

It wasn't long before the ninja herself appeared, with five men waiting for her expectantly in the middle of the training field.

The first thing Kakashi noticed about her was that he was no longer the only one to be easily identified by hair. Chi sported a head of bright orange, and the great mass stopped at her waist – he could only wonder how it didn't get in the way when she was fighting, or how she kept it from getting caught in little twigs when she was travelling by tree branch.

Her second most notable trait was her height of six foot-ish, which seemed only to become more prominent as she neared the field, walking with a brusque stride.

Chi approached Kakashi first, and he began to feel quite self-conscious about his meager five foot eight (which everyone _said_ would turn into a six one, but that remained to be seen) in comparison – he wasn't used to women being taller than he was.

"Are you the one who's moved in?" she looked him over once, though her expression gave away nothing.

Kakashi nodded once. "And you must be Chi."

"And you are?"

"His name is –" Ashi began, only to be cut off.

"I didn't ask you, Ashi. I asked _him_."

"Do you want my real name or my code name?" Kakashi asked, crossing his arms.

"Your code name I should think." Chi answered, "Your real name is no business of mine."

"Then you may call me Ro." Kakashi answered. She nodded.

"And you're _good_ I suppose, since you're an Anbu already."

"I guess so." He said in a guarded tone, wary of the direction in which this was going.

Chi took out a black hairtie from her tool pouch and swept up her great length of hair. She thought for a moment. Then, after only just having met him, "I think I'd like to test you. After all, if we're going to be going on missions together in the future, we ought to know each other's fighting style." She turned to the others, "He is, I assume, acquaintanced with each of _your_ fighting styles?"

"Of course." They all murmured, though Kakashi had sparred only Tatsu. Kawe hesitated for a moment before looking up.

"Ah, Chi, look . . . maybe you shouldn't . . . test the kid right now. He's just been fighting Tatsu and it . . ." He squirmed, "You know, he's tired. Maybe he shouldn't battle you right this moment. And you've only known him for thirty seconds . . . it's . . . well, it's kind of rude to ask to fight someone after you've just met."

"I'm fine." Kakashi insisted as he and Chi squared off, though he had to admit that she had taken him a little by surprise – he usually didn't battle allies that he'd known for less than a minute.

"Nonsense." Chi dismissed Kawe's suggestions with hardly a second thought, "We're shinobi; fighting is part of our lifestyle, it's certainly not _rude_ for ninja to spar with one another as part of an introductory ritual. As for already having fought Tatsu . . . on a real mission, you might not always be as fresh as a daisy, Kawe." She beckoned to Kakashi. "Come, Ro, let us begin."

"Might want to use your Sharingan for this one, kid." Tatsu whispered. Kakashi shook his head.

"That's unfair."

"No, it's unwise." Corrected Chi, who had overheard. "True battles are never fair; use what advantages you have."

Nevertheless, Kakashi refused to use his Sharingan on Chi, who merely raised her eyebrows and attacked.

Kakashi blocked her swinging kick with both arms, but it still forced him back a ways. He held her ankle and Chi twisted in his grip, trying to left-hook him. He barely managed to get his palm up in time to catch her punch. Her right arm was already coming around his left side – the side where he had no peripheral vision because his eye was covered.

The punch caught Kakashi just under the jaw and he swore wholeheartedly, blocking the follow-up knee to his stomach.

"Don't swear." Chi reprimanded with a frown, aiming another kick at his knees, which he jumped over and allowed to pass under him. "It's crude."

Kakashi disengaged and leaped backwards to catch his breath, knowing he couldn't stay on the defensive for the entire battle. Maybe Tatsu was right; maybe he _did_ need his Sharingan, even if it was only so he could see out of his left eye.

Chi rushed at him and Kakashi made his choice, pushing his hitai-ate firmly upwards so it would be level on his forehead. At once he could pick out her tiny, subtle movements, how she was stepping towards the left but also keeping her weight on her left side, meaning that she was planning to fake and go right. She did and he mirrored her, using the opportunity to bring his foot around to kick her unprotected ribs. Seeing that she was moving to block his foot, he switched directions, aiming at her knee instead.

Chi wasn't able to dodge the kick to the inside of her knee and turned her fall into a backwards somersault where she could keep out of Kakashi's range. She never looked him in the eyes but focused on his body, trying to read his movements. Obviously, Chi had experienced the Sharingan before.

They continued to spar, with the others looking on in interested silence. Kakashi and Chi moved with such rhythm and grace that the whole thing looked more like a dance than a fight. Kakashi smiled a little under his mask, thinking of Minato-sensei. He was the one who had put the whole dancing idea into his head in the first place.

...

 _"_ _Taijutsu," Minato began, "Is like dancing. You must –"_

 _"_ _Dancing?" Obito interrupted. He pulled a face and pointed to Rin. "That's for girls."_

 _"_ _Shut up, idiot." Kakashi glared and crossed his arms, "You interrupted him."_

 _"_ _I'm not an idiot!" Obito snapped, "I'm an Uchiha!"_

 _"_ _You're an idiotic Uchiha. You don't even have your Sharingan. Maybe you're so idiotic that you'll_ never _get your Sharingan." Kakashi taunted, knowing that Minato was going to reprimand him but enjoying it all the same._

 _"_ _I_ will _get my Sharingan!" Obito shrilled, "And I_ will _become a better ninja than_ you _, Hatake Kakashi! You don't even have a_ chance _at getting the Sharingan."_

 _Obito lay beneath cold stone, and Kakashi didn't let his gaze wander above Obito's chin. Where the blood seeped from the dark hollowness of the eye's rightful place, he dared not look._

 _"_ _Is it done?" Obito asked, his breath coming short._

 _"_ _. . . Yes," Rin whispered with a sob. The chakra at her fingertips dissipated as she completed her job: sealing the tissue connecting Kakashi's optic nerve to the foreign eyeball. "It's done."_

 _Obito smiled and closed his eyelid over that dark cavern._

….

"Ro! Ro! Kakashi! Hey, kid! Wake up! Goddammit Chi, what if you've killed him?!"

"I didn't kill him, Ashi." Chi's voice replied with an air of indigence. "He's still breathing, see? And I've told you before not to swear."

Someone was shaking Kakashi violently as he came to, the bright blue of the Konoha sky marred by dark spots and pain stabbing his forehead.

Five faces surrounded him, four looking quite concerned, and the other rather indifferent as bright hair was brushed behind an ear.

"He's perfectly fine." Chi pointed out as Ashi stopped shaking him. Kakashi picked up his hitai-ate from the ground beside him and tried to tye it over his left eye once more, wincing as the metal part came into contact with the tender spot on his forehead. He took it down and held onto it instead, not wanting to aggravate the pain.

"Care to explain why I woke up on the ground with a knot on my head?" Kakashi asked, suspicious that he'd been knocked out by Chi during their match without remembering how.

"Well, you . . ." Kawe began uncertainly, "You just sort of froze in the middle of the fight."

"Like this." Ashi demonstrated, tensing up and staring straight ahead.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I sincerely hope my face did not look like that." He said, referring to the other nin's expression of fear.

"Nah it was more like this." Ashi used a hand as a surrogate mask to cover up the lower half of his face and Chi rolled her eyes before turning back to Kakashi.

"I expected you to dodge, but you really did just freeze for some reason. I guess I knocked you out."

"You _guess_?" Kakashi snorted as he got to his feet, "I'm going to have a nasty bruise there for at least two weeks. I won't be able to wear my hitai-ate properly."

"That's the least of your worries." Chi pointed out, "What really matters is why you froze in the first place. Did you panic? Did you have a seizure? Is this a _condition_?"

"It's never happened before." Kakashi replied truthfully.

"Then we need to figure out what caused it." Saki put in, "Lest it happen in the midst of a real battle."

"I'm fine." He established in a tone that was clearly ending the conversation. He headed back towards the dorm without looking back.

There was no way in hell that Kakashi was explaining his . . . episode. _Some things are not meant to be shared._ He concluded, hunching his shoulders and tracing the Konoha symbol on the hitai-ate in his hand.

A/N: hope you enjoyed this chapter, constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome!


End file.
